


Birthday Girl

by jalendavi_lady



Series: Winry And Roy series from fma_fic_contest [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Canon - First Anime, Community: fma_fic_contest, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-08
Updated: 2009-10-08
Packaged: 2017-10-13 05:24:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/133441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jalendavi_lady/pseuds/jalendavi_lady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Winry's 21st birthday party is winding down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Girl

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Rhythm (501-1000 words) prompt at [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/fma_fic_contest/profile)[**fma_fic_contest**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/fma_fic_contest/) .

It was a good birthday.

No, scratch that. It was a wonderful and great birthday. And there was still an entire hour before the bar closed.

And they were staying until closing, all of them.

Grandmother had packed her off to Central for a week, saying that she needed to celebrate her twenty-first birthday with friends and "I am not having that many people tromping through my house overnight ever again".

She had been in Central for three days already, including two days when she and Sheska had looked through museums and at historical markers.

Yesterday she had spent the day with Gracia and Elysia, exulting inside at the chance to spend actual time with her semi-adoptive 'family away from home'. Even if there had been that weepy moment while Gracia was cooking dinner, when Elysia had leaned in close to whisper, as if a secret, "I still remember when Daddy used to sing me to sleep", and Winry had leaned close to answer, "I still remember my dad doing the same thing".

Their eyes had met, and Elysia seemed to finally understand something.

But that was yesterday, and it had already been a full 24 hours plus since Winry had voluntarily sung Elysia her own father's old favorite bedtime song, as out of tune and off the beat as he always had.

This was now.

There was a live band playing the latest jazz over in the far corner, and couples coated the dance floor.

Falman and Sheska were dancing in the center of the crowd, and had been getting progressively closer to each other for the past six songs.

Fuery and Breda had both headed home hours ago. They hadn't been able to arrange for either the day or just the morning off tomorrow. Everyone else had time off they could claim, and had done so nearly as soon as Winry had known she'd be coming.

Hawkeye and Havoc were dancing, nowhere near as close as Falman and Sheska were but Winry still thought they looked like they were having a good time.

She was sitting at the bar, turned around on the stool with her elbows resting on the counter behind her. She'd taken turns dancing with nearly everyone in the group earlier.

She did have to admit, the newest dance styles were fun and exhilarating -- if incredibly tiring to someone who wasn't used to them.

It was 'nearly everyone' whom she had danced with because of the man sitting beside her at the bar, slowly nursing his last drink of the night.

The band changed to another song and Roy started tapping his hand on the bar. He, like the rest of them, was in civilian clothes, and Winry could see the scars on the back of his hand from when he had fought Bradley and barely made out the two thin white scars on his cheek.

"You didn't have to stay for this," she quietly reminded him.

He stopped tapping. "Miss Rockbell, it's your birthday."

"Not since..." She looked down at her watch. "...an hour ago."

He shrugged. "Still, just because I've got a bum leg doesn't mean I can't enjoy the company and the music."

She nodded.

Roy had, after all, explained earlier. Walking was fine. Running was fine. Dancing was another story. And there had usually been at least two people sitting with him the entire night, as they took breaks and switched around dance partners.

But right now, it was just him and his leg plus her and her worn-out feet.

After another moment or two, the song changed again, this time to something that was slower and only instrumental.

"So, good birthday?"

"Great birthday." She smiled. "And I'm still in the city for the next few days. I've got some mechanic friends I'm going to visit tomorrow afternoon."

He made a point to glance over his shoulder between them at the dance floor, and then even more noticeably look over to the other side. He practically had to turn completely around on his stool to do so.

"What?" she asked him.

He glanced around again, more quickly, and Winry was suddenly aware that the barkeeper was over on the far side of the bar serving other customers.

He seemed to brace himself, and she knew in an instant what was coming.

"I know I shouldn't be doing this now, but..." He took a deep breath and looked as straight into her eyes as he could. "I'm sorry."

"I know that." She reached out to put her hand on his. "I've known that since..."

"But I never actually said it."

"True."

Silence, except for bar noise and the music.

"Roy, back before I knew... back when all I knew about were news reports and letters from Ed, and that one trip when he made State Alchemist," at that Roy did visibly flinch, "I actually admired you. For trying to fix things, for being someone not like the image I had in my head of whoever had..."

He nodded, letting her not go on.

"And when I found out, it wasn't just finding out, it was feeling betrayed and mislead. And then I found out about Hughes barely a day later..."

He slipped his hand over hers and squeezed.

"So what I think I'm saying is that," and with this she leaned in to whisper in his ear, because this really wasn't something for anyone else but them to know, "I think I may have forgiven you before I knew there was anything to forgive."

She drew back again, and it took until the stillness between songs for him to compose himself enough to choke out, "Thank you."

The song started and after a moment Roy complained, "That's more off-tempo than soldiers marching the first day of boot camp."

Winry laughed, and then thought back to her father's bedtime antics. She said, "I don't know, some of the best music in the world is out of tune and off the beat..."


End file.
